SEO Basics: When Your Domain & Homepage Are Not The Same

Recently, I ran an audit on 56 music industry websites and received a startling result. Sixteen sites, 28.6%, forward people from their domain name to their homepage using 302 Temporary Redirects. These sites are tossing away valuable link authority! If your domain and homepage are different, determine how the domains forward visitors to the actual homepage. The correct way to forward visitors from one Web address to another is via a 301 Permanent Redirect. A permanent redirect tells search engines to take the authority from off-site links pointing at your domain and apply it to your real homepage. The most commonly used incorrect way to forward your domain to your homepage is a 302 Temporary Redirect. A temporary redirect tells search engines not to forward any authority from links. It’s like burning money. The authority evaporates. On many websites, the majority of off-s...